Michigan school kids can be grateful that only a quarter of
the bills introduced in the state Legislature each session get enacted. The odds
are thus against a proposed law that would have them abandon their books to
caulk windows, inflate bus tires and dust refrigerator coils in pursuit of
energy savings and a "Green School" designation. That a Republican lawmaker from
Livingston County conceived of this eco-instruction calls into question the
environmental platform of the Grand Old Party.

There is an alternative to embracing Green Orthodoxy. Few states or school districts have actually evaluated the veracity and impartiality of environmental curricula.

Republicans have been routinely vilified by environmental
activists as nemeses of Nature. But the "Green School" legislation and similar
tree-hugging measures elsewhere expose an eagerness among some GOP lawmakers to
secure green credentials.

The "Green School" proposal lays out 19 eligibility criteria
that span the spectrum of environmental angst, including recycling paper,
magazines, newspapers, batteries, ink cartridges and cellular telephones;
protecting rain forests, native plants and endangered species; and, of course,
reducing energy use to cure our "addiction" to oil and to curtail global
warming. For good measure, "Green School" activity also includes classroom
visits by the Sierra Club, as well as school observances of Earth Day.

Republican state Rep. Joe Hune, sponsor of the Green School
bill, told the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, "It’s something that would
help kids get acclimated to the political arena." Or as Lenin said, "Give me
four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will not be
uprooted."

Whether Hune’s legislation will become law remains to be seen.
The bill passed the Michigan House on March 23 and was sent to the state Senate.
Just last month, Republican majorities in the Michigan House and Senate
overwhelmingly approved a new regime of groundwater regulation advocated by
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her environmental allies.

GOP lawmakers in Michigan aren’t alone among their brethren in
turning over a green leaf. New York Gov. George Pataki has mandated the use of
"green" cleaning products in schools, and he has called for converting every
school bus in New York — all 50,000 — to operate on "clean fuel," at an
estimated cost of $150 million.

Against this backdrop, it’s less surprising that President
George W. Bush recently complained of America’s "addiction to oil." But in so
doing, the president has invited fellow Republicans everywhere to engage in
environmental hyperbole.

Ironically, Republicans may have largely missed the
opportunity to reap much of the supposed political benefit from ceding
environmental policy to statists. Compared to national security, the economy and
health care, the environment just doesn’t worry voters that much anymore. The
enormous progress that has been achieved undoubtedly is a factor.

There is an alternative to embracing Green Orthodoxy. Few
states or school districts have actually evaluated the veracity and impartiality
of environmental curricula. That’s a principled cause that any Republican (or
Democrat) could proudly promote.

There’s no shortage of science-based materials that avoid
doomsday scenarios and instead document dramatic improvements in environmental
quality and explain the role of property rights and markets in maximizing
environmental protection. After all, the greatest environmental gains have been
achieved by free-enterprise nations — rich ones, in other words — that can
actually afford to worry about wetlands and tree frogs.

Republicans should indeed take up the environmental mantle —
by advocating truth and balance in the classroom and in the regulatory
labyrinth. Otherwise, our children not only will be tutored in tire inflation,
but will be taught that humanity is cruel; consumption, selfish; technology,
dangerous; capitalism, destructive — and government supreme.

#####

Diane S. Katz is
director of science, environment and technology policy at the Mackinac Center
for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in
Midland, Mich. Permission to
reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the
Center are properly cited.

ISSN: 1093-2240,
SKU: V2006-12

Summary

Legislation introduced by a Republican lawmaker would encourage Michigan students to pursue
energy savings and a “Green School” designation by caulking windows, inflating bus tires and dusting refrigerator coils. Such proposals are representative of the GOP’s failure to craft a sound environmental platform.